Chapter 2

"A baby? Are you completely out of your mind?"

Elowen slapped his hand away from her cheek, stumbling back until her legs hit the edge of the leather armchair. Her heart was hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.

"I am completely serious," Caius said, his hand dropping back to his side without a flicker of irritation. "Arthur Ashbourne does not play small games. He knows I can hire an actress or pay off some socialite to wear a ring for twelve months. The baby clause is his way of ensuring bloodline continuity and absolute control."

"Then go find someone who actually wants to carry your child. I came here to talk about an illegal eviction, Mr. Ashbourne, not sell my body to a billionaire."

"Your lease is gone, Elowen. The building was already in deep default before my firm stepped in. Your former landlord was finalizing a quick sale to a demolition crew that would have given you twenty minutes to grab your purse, not two hours."

"So what, I am supposed to fall on my knees and thank you?"

"You can hate me all you want," Caius said, turning away from her to walk toward the massive floor to ceiling window. He looked out over the sprawling city below, his hands tucked casually into his tailored trouser pockets. "The facts do not change because your feelings are hurt. Your bakery went under because your previous lender locked you into a predatory adjustable rate note that ballooned past thirty percent last month. They were scheduled to seize your commercial mixers and every piece of your personal property by Friday morning."

Elowen stiffened, the breath catching in her throat. "How... how do you even know that?"

"I do thorough research before I make any acquisition."

"I am not an acquisition."

Caius turned around slowly, his cold gray eyes pinning her right where she stood.

"Then walk out that door right now. Go find an emergency shelter. Try walking into a bank to get an unsecured loan with a destroyed credit score and three hundred and forty thousand dollars of delinquent debt hanging over your head. See how far pure pride gets you before the sun goes down tonight."

The harsh truth of his words hit her like a bucket of freezing water.

Elowen clenched her teeth so hard her jaw ached. Her fingernails dug sharp half moons into the palms of her hands inside her coat pockets. He was arrogant; cold, ruthless, but worst of all, he was not lying. If she walked out into the cold wind right now, she had nowhere to sleep, zero dollars in her checking account, no family to bail her out, and no future left to build.

"Why me, Caius?" Her voice cracked slightly, thick with frustration and exhaustion. "You have billions. You could walk into any high society country club in this city and find fifty women dying to marry you. Victoria Sterling would probably sign the papers within ten minutes."

"Victoria wants my family seat, my surname, and unlimited access to the Ashbourne foundation," he said smoothly, walking back toward the center of the room. "She is also deeply entangled with my uncle's faction on the board. A marriage with her is a political landmine. You, on the other hand, have no board loyalties, no wealthy family pulling strings, and a very clean, very simple reason to keep your mouth shut."

"Money."

"Survival," Caius corrected, his voice dropping lower. "I respect survival. I have zero use for social ambition."

He picked up a heavy gold pen from the corner of the mahogany desk and laid it directly beside the thick black folder.

"Here are the core terms of the contract. One: We sign the official civil registry papers tomorrow morning at city hall.

Two: You move all your personal belongings into my penthouse immediately.

Three: You attend every family dinner, corporate function, and charity gala on my arm as my devoted, fiercely loyal wife.

Four: We maintain this arrangement for twelve months minimum, or until the trust confirms the family succession."

Elowen stepped forward, her eyes scanning the crisp white pages inside the folder. The text was dense with heavy legal jargon, but one clause stood out in bold ink right at the top of page four.

"What about... this part?" she asked, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to stay steady. "The child."

"We make a credible, documented effort to satisfy the trust conditions. Medical consultation, fertility scheduling, traditional methods, whatever timeline we agree on behind closed doors."

"Traditional methods?" Elowen looked up sharply, her cheeks burning hot. "You actually expect me to sleep with you?"

"I expect us to behave like a married couple in every sense of the word," Caius said, stepping around the corner of the desk. His voice was a low, gravelly rasp that seemed to vibrate straight through the quiet room. "My grandfather employs private investigators who check everything from credit card trails to domestic staff testimony. If there is a single whisper of separate lifestyles or separate bedrooms, the estate executors will trigger a full fraud audit and freeze every account I manage."

"We can fake it for the staff. We can act."

"Not in my house."

Caius did not stop walking until he was standing directly in front of her. His broad frame completely blocked out the light from the massive window behind him. The scent of cedarwood, clean rain, and expensive wool wrapped around her, suffocating and intensely magnetic all at once.

"You want your debt wiped clean to the penny," he murmured, his eyes dropping to her mouth before rising back to her hazel eyes. "You want a brand new bakery in the heart of the retail district, fitted with top tier commercial ovens, with the commercial deed transferred entirely into your legal name."

"Yes," Elowen breathed, her chest rising and falling fast as she looked up at him.

"Then you play by my rules, little baker. No half measures. No running away when things get uncomfortable."

"And what are your rules, Caius?"

Caius reached out, his long, warm fingers gently catching her chin. He tilted her face upward, forcing her to look straight into his dark, unblinking gray gaze. The heat radiating from his skin made her entire body tense, a sudden rush of electricity shooting straight down her spine.

"Under my roof, you share my bed. There will be no separate rooms."